started a midnight session of this Busty Blonde Ale so I could have beer in my fermenter before I go to work for 14 hours! I feel like I am making the best of my life today, who needs sleep when you can drink a pot of coffee and get 23lbs of grain converted before the sun comes up! 1.100OG 76% eff AG. Batch #36 is my busty b*tch - took me 1/2 the morning to come up with that and I am pretty proud of myself!
Checked the gravity on my kolsch ale and its hit final gravity 1.009 after only 5 days!! That must have been an active starter I pitched. Bumped up temp for another 5 days before cold crashing and kegging.
Began my starter for Saturday's brew. Using wlp810 for a lager but may need to step it up 3x's due to the need for more yeast. Also splitting up some grains and cleaning a couple of vessels.
Fired up the new burners on the brew stand to burn the paint off. Timed how long it will take me t get to strike and sparge temps(15 minutes!) with 5 gallons of water. Also tested the boil off rate of the brew kettle, 1.25 gallons/hr. Ready to brew Sunday! Probably Chinook Ale from NB.
Brewed my first lager. An October fest. First time used of my new Jaded Brewing Hydra IC. I have to say this thing is incredible. I have basically an unlimited quantity of ice so I pumped ice water through it. 12 gallons in the BK. Boiling to 50 degrees in 23 minutes. I was amazed. We were at ale temp is about 13 minutes. I have no affiliation with these guys but if you don't have one you need one.
Bought my first home recently and doing a lot of work on it before we move in. SWMBO says "you know we can unplug the fridge while we get it fixed up" my response was " nope I need to put my keg of saison in there for refreshments while I work".
The oatmeal stout finally got down to 66 pitched my 1200 ml starter of wyeast 1450 brew day officially done. Also got my first ever live view of my beer fermenting. Coolest ****ing thing ever. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465099081.203023.jpg
Crushed 12 pounds of barley for tomorrows or Monday's brew session. Added a shelf to the brew stand to hold the propane tanks. Made a copper sparge bar(untested, if it doesn't work I am only out scrap copper and 1 fitting).
Good day for homebrew yesterday. I delivered two cases of bottled APA wedding beer to a friend's celebration - all custom labeled for the event. In the evening I poured through a keg of double IPA at a community Shakesbeer fundraiser. Got a ton of really appreciative comments.
Picked up the grain for a single gallon batch of Trappist single, and the specialty grains for the five gallons of amber ale. Now I just have to wait for the 50 lb sack of 2-row to come in.
Bottled 2 sours apricot and raspberry. I'm not loving the Apricot too sour and a touch too acedic. The raspberry smells like straight up raspberry jam not nearly as sour as apricot. Both beers were split from the same golden sour base and handled identically. Go figure.